Show still rocking 30 years on

SHOCK HORROR: It was all happening at dress rehearsals for The Rocky Horror Show at Founders Theatre last night. Riff Raff, played by Nick Wilkinson, left, gets a kiss from show creator Richard O'Brien. (IAIN MCGREGOR/Waikato Times) 

Source: Waikato Times print edition

7 October 2005
By JUSTINE TURNER

Thirty years after madness took control on the big screen, the man who put the fishnets in Halloween returned to Hamilton to be part of the time warp again.

As cast and crew adjusted their suspenders and stepped to the right, preparing for The Rocky Horror Show's opening night tomorrow, creator Richard O'Brien sat back and watched.

O'Brien said it was exciting and a privilege to be invited to the theatre.

"In some ways Rocky is a rock-and-roll concert with a story line," he said.

"Last year Hamilton erected a statue of Riff Raff and Paul (Mitchell) planned to do the show this year on the 30th anniversary. So with a combination of those factors I felt obliged to come out and be part of it all."

O'Brien will be there on opening and closing nights and warned producer Mitchell that he would also make a surprise visit to another performance.

At last night's dress rehearsal, despite his evident toe-tapping, O'Brien didn't give too much away about what he thought while it was still a work in progress.

The kinky, catchy cult classic has a three-week season at Founders Theatre and features an array of talented cast members.

From Ginette McDonald, in the role of narrator, and one of Shortland Street's nicest nurses Roy Snow as Dr Frank 'N' Furter, to TV3's The Strip star Mike Edward as Rocky, the show looks set to plunge the audience into a time warp.